1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the use of biofeedback to modify a subject""s behavior, mental state, and/or physiological functioning. More specifically, the invention relates to apparatus and methods for modulating an operator""s control input to an electronic game or simulator in response to measured physiological activity, such as autonomically-mediated and/or EEG physiological activity, wherein the player thereby learns to control the physiological and/or EEG activity.
2. Discussion of Background Art
Biofeedback systems can be used for a variety of purposes, such as to address behavioral disorders, such as Attention Deficit Disorder, and for training job-related physiological activity.
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a behavioral disorder which is characterized by the inability to sustain attention long enough to perform some activities, such as school work or organized play. Current treatments for ADD include medication, behavior therapy and brainwave biofeedback training. In biofeedback training, the trainee, usually a child, is typically provided information in the form of a conventionally produced electroencephalograph (EEG) display which shows him how much he is producing the brainwave pattern(s) indicative of attention and/or inattention. This display is typically in bland, minimally motivating formats, and trains individuals by focusing their attention directly on the status of targeted physiological signals. For example, this feedback frequently consists of a video representation of the EEG graph. The procedure, though providing useful information, is often very limited in variability and predictable, and accordingly can induce boredom. This can lead to frustration when progress is slow, and makes it hard to encourage simultaneous desirable changes in multiple physiological parameters due to limitations in ability to attend to multiple signals. Positive reinforcement of attention states can accordingly be difficult to obtain, especially in children, and more especially in children exhibiting ADD.
Additionally, with increased sophistication in technology, human performance has increasingly become an important, frequently limiting, factor in the proper performance of many advanced technology job-related tasks. For example, both inattention and stress overload can play a substantial role in impairing pilot performance and producing flight hazards. Current biofeedback methods are hard to apply to job-related physiological training because the necessary focus on physiological feedback signals can distract trainees from challenging professional tasks. The ability to control physiological activity, such as to control stress or to remain aware of fluctuating attentional states, the ability to maintain effective physiological states, and the ability to recover efficiently from attention lapses or other ineffective physiological states are valuable in task settings requiring recognition and response.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,714 to Silva et al. Describes a system which generates an audible indication and starts a prerecorded educational program upon determination that the subject has a sufficient concentration level.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,301 to Ochs discloses a biofeedback system which provides a visual display of a metric indication of a physiological function and a visual display of a target metric which is readjusted to prevent attainment of the target.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,100 entitled xe2x80x9cMethod of Encouraging Attention by Correlating Video Game Difficulty with Attention Levelxe2x80x9d demonstrates the concept of improving attention skill by rewarding specific brain signal patterns with success at playing an action video game. The game is virtually impossible to win until the player exhibits the required brain signal patterns that accompany normal vs. attention-deficit behavior. Once the player exhibits the required xe2x80x9cnormalxe2x80x9d brain signal patterns the game becomes manageable. A measurement system senses EEG signals and routes them to the computer where the game difficulty control signal is derived. This invention has the disadvantage of requiring extensive reprogramming of a video game, or the complete construction of a new video game, in order to implement the method. Because much video game software is proprietary and/or not available in source code, this software would be unusable for implementing the method.
A commercial product, entitled xe2x80x9cThe Mind Drive,xe2x80x9d senses physiological signals from a finger sensor and uses the signals alone to drive a video game. Because xe2x80x9cThe Mind Drivexe2x80x9d does not deliver biofeedback training while the trainee is playing a game or performing a task in a conventional way, its method does not reinforce desirable physiological changes in the realistic context of task performance. The Mind Drive, too, has the disadvantage of requiring extensive video game programming in order to implement the method.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus that provides positive reinforcement of desirable attention states and/or physiological changes or states.
It is another object of the invention to maintain the desirable attention states and/or physiological states once they are obtained in a subject.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus that improves a subject""s subsequent ability to both achieve and maintain desirable attention states and/or physiological states, and improves the subject""s performance or behavior when conducting his or her daily activities.
It is an object of the invention to provide a video or computer game or training simulation that responds to physiological activity as well as joystick, game pad input and/or other user input.
It is another object of the invention to provide a video or computer game or training simulation system that does not require extensive reprogramming, or complete construction of, the game""s or training simulation""s software.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that delivers biofeedback training while the trainee is playing a game or performing a task in a conventional way, and therefore its method reinforces desirable physiological changes in the realistic context of task performance, with successful performance of the task as intrinsic reinforcement.
It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus and methods which can be used with off-the-shelf video or personal computer games or existing simulators.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that delivers biofeedback training which can help reduce the occurrence of ineffective physiological states, such as inattention and/or dysfunctional stress.
It is another object of the invention to provide a video game or training simulation system that provides engaging entertainment and/or challenges to the user.
Yet another object of the invention is to teach the trainee to incorporate autonomic or EEG (brainwave) physiological self-regulation into professional task performance through repeated associations (classical conditioning) without need for conscious attention to such regulation.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the specification and drawings.
The objects referenced above, and others made obvious herein, can be accomplished by the present invention which provides a video game, simulator, or another task challenge format, which can motivate trainees to participate in and adhere to the training process through the rewards inherent in mastery of popular video games, computer game, or job task simulators, and preferably without the demand, monotony or frustration potential of direct concentration on physiological signals. The present invention includes apparatus and methods modulating the control function of a computer simulation or game input device (e.g., joystick, button control) using physiological information so as to affect the user""s ability to impact or control the simulation or game with the input device (control authority). One aspect of the invention is to use the present invention, along with a computer simulation or game, to affect physiological state or physiological self-regulation according to some programmed criterion (e.g., increase, decrease, or maintain) in order to perform better at the game task. When the affected physiological state or physiological self-regulation is the target of self-regulation or biofeedback training, the game play reinforces therapeutic changes in the physiological signal(s). The feedback preferably is, however, implicit in the task and not explicit in the form of direct feedback (e.g., bar graphs, tracings, etc.), and therefore offers more subtle conditioning of the desired physiological response(s) than conventional biofeedback methods and apparatuses. For example, when the present invention is used for training job-related physiological activity it can allow biofeedback training to occur without distracting the trainee from challenging professional tasks, and can teach the trainee to incorporate autonomic or EEG (brainwave) physiological self-regulation into professional task performance through repeated associations (classical conditioning) without need for conscious attention to such regulation.